Police in Arizona said Tuesday that an officer who intentionally used his car last month to run into a suspect with a rifle probably saved the man's life.
The man's lawyer strongly disagrees. Video of the incident has stirred debate about what type of force police should have used to detain a man with a gun.
"Everything in the video seems to point towards an obvious excessive use of force. It is miraculous that my client isn't dead," said attorney Michelle Cohen-Metzger.
The incident was recorded February 19 on the dashcam of two Marana police cars that were following the suspect, 36-year-old Mario Valencia.
In one video, an officer who was tailing Valencia at slow speed reports over the radio that the suspect has fired one round in the air with a rifle he is accused of stealing that morning from a Walmart.
Another patrol car zooms past, runs into the man from behind then hits a short cinder block wall next to a driveway. Video from Officer Michael Rapiejko's camera shows the officer running the man over and the windshield smashing as the car hits the wall. Posted By Abdul